Alejandro Pimentel walked off the pitch to a standing ovation, his watered, steely eyes staring toward the worn grass.

But the Rams’ star soccer senior had no reason to hang his head.

Despite a roaring comeback from a 3-1 second half deficit in the semifinals of the CIF SoCal Division 4 Regional Championship, the Rams’ season concluded Thursday night as the hosts lost 5-4 in a shootout to visiting El Segundo.

After getting the scoring underway with a minute left in the opening half, Pimentel led the Rams’ comeback by reaching a personal milestone with his 100th and 101st career goals as Desert Mirage sent the game to overtime at 3-3.

El Segundo entered the regional as champions of CIF-SS Division 5, while Desert Mirage came to the tournament as winners of the CIF-SS Division 4 crown.

The Desert Mirage varsity soccer team lost Thursday's home playoff game against El Segundo in a shootout after a score of 3-3.(Photo: Brandon Magpantay/Special to The Desert Sun)

The stars

-- Pimentel’s phenomenal prep career may have concluded with a loss, but not without an exclamation point. Entering the night with 98 career goals, his three scores on Thurdsday gave the senior forward a final count of 101 goals for his sterling career. Setting the shootout stage for the hosts, Pimentel also converted on his penalty kick.

--El Segundo forward Malcolm Holtzmann-Cisse gave Desert Mirage headaches all night with his length and athleticism, scoring the Eagles' first goal three minutes into the latter half to tie the game at 1-1. Like Pimentel before him in the shootout order, Holtzmann-Cisse also converted his penalty kick

--Eagles sophomore midfielder Casey Lund scored the fifth and final shootout goal to seal the win.

The Desert Mirage varsity soccer team lost Thursday's home playoff game against El Segundo in a shootout after a score of 3-3.(Photo: Brandon Magpantay/Special to The Desert Sun)

The moment

--Leading 1-0 at halftime, Desert Mirage suddenly was swarmed by the Eagles immediately in the second half as El Segundo scored three goals in 14 minutes. Yet, just 30 seconds after the third tally, Pimentel charged down the right side of the field with purpose and boomed a comeback score – the 100th goal of his career – to put Desert Mirage right back in the game. Ten minutes later, Pimentel’s third goal of the night came on a penalty kick after the Eagles were charged with a hand ball in the box.

The Desert Mirage varsity soccer team lost Thursday's home playoff game against El Segundo in a shootout after a score of 3-3.(Photo: Brandon Magpantay/Special to The Desert Sun)

The chatter

--Rams head coach Peter Zamora on what he told his team after the game: “Thank you. Thank you for putting us in this position and making me look like a good coach. These moments, I’m grateful for, and it’s an honor and a blessing to be here. It’s nothing but positivity.”

--Zamora on shootout: “I take the blame for every loss. And I’ve been coaching my ‘keeper, but on that one I let him have the freedom and I should’ve been pointing him. But I just wanted to give them the opportunity to do it on their own. It’s my fault it didn’t work out.”

-- Pimentel on coming back from down 3-1: “We knew that once they scored the third goal, it wasn’t going to be easy. But all the people that came to watch and support us, we’re not gonna’ let them down. We’re not gonna’ let our school or community down. We knew there was enough time to catch up, we got the two goals and took it to overtime. But, on penalties, whoever has more luck wins.”

-- Pimentel on achieving 100 career goals: “I don’t practice to get individual records, I practice to win titles. And going toward that objects of winning titles, I get to help the team by scoring. But I don’t come to the pitch with a mindset of individual success; it’s more about our team success.”

--Zamora on Pimentel’s goal mark: “It’s fortunate that he reached 101 goals, but not the way we wanted it.”

The Desert Mirage varsity soccer team lost Thursday's home playoff game against El Segundo in a shootout after a score of 3-3.(Photo: Brandon Magpantay/Special to The Desert Sun)

--Pimentel on season: “What motivated us was that many people, at the beginning of the season, were saying that we were the weakest Desert Mirage team of recent years. We wanted to prove them wrong, and we did.”

The takeaway

--A championship season now concluded, Desert Mirage has nothing to hang its head over. While a state title was no doubt in the Rams’ sights, the team’s second CIF-SS crown in the past three years only enhances the team’s legacy as one of the premier programs – of any sport, boys or girls – across the desert. And while history will show the loss, fans who were at Thursday's game will remember the character evidenced by this Rams’ team as they charged back from the 3-1 deficit in the second half.